Should you need confirmation of the expansion of our game at the non-Test level then consider the international schedule for 2000.

'National' teams from around 40 countries will compete in tournaments on five continents this year.

Already, Sierra Leone has taken out the West African Championship while Malaysia has won the Tuanku Ja'Afar Trophy, cricket's South East Asian Championship.

The European tournament list starts with Portugal's hosting of a triangular tournament involving Switzerland and Sweden 'A' from June 9-12.

The first week of July will see Wales make its annual international appearance when it hosts the Home Countries' Triple Crown tournament also featuring Scotland, Ireland and England Amateurs.

As usual, the Welsh side will not be a full strength 'national team'. Curiously, Glamorgan players are not eligible for the Welsh team as technically the county competes in the English County competition and therefore the players are eligible for England only.

For Scotland, Ireland and England Amateurs the meet provides a final warmup for the 12 team European Championship to be held in Glasgow, Scotland from July 21-27.

They will contest the First Division alongside Denmark, Netherlands and Italy.

For the four Associate countries in the Second Division, France, Germany, Gibraltar and Israel, the main goal will probably be to spare themselves the 'embarrassment' of losing to Affiliate members, Portugal and Greece.

July will be a busy month for the Netherlands as it makes a lightning visit to Toronto, Canada to play three 'internationals' on successive days against Canada on July14-16.

The matches for Canada are vital preparation for the inaugural Americas tournament also in Toronto. The dates, yet to be confirmed, are likely to be from August 5-12.

The Americas' region's four Associate members, Canada, the United States, Bermuda and Argentina will be joined by Affiliate member, the Cayman Islands.

Although Caymans has played some low key matches against other Caribbean countries such as Turks & Caicos Islands over the years, this is its first outing in a competitive tournament.

The Norwegian and Finnish national teams will make their debuts when they compete in the ECC Representative Festival in Austria in late August.

They will play an Austrian team, the Llubljana CC playing under the banner of Slovenia and Zagreb CC, representing Croatia. Teams from Poland (Warsaw CC) and Czech Republic (Prague CC) were to have taken part. The reason for their exclusion is not known at this stage.

What is likely to be the last Africa Cup under its present format will start in Nairobi, Kenya from August 31.

The next Africa Cup will probably double as a World Cup qualifying tournament meaning automatic qualifiers, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya will make their last appearance this year.

The likely contestants in this year's Cup are South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya, who will send 'A' sides along with Uganda, Tanzania, Namibia and Zambia.

An Africa Cricket Association official said West Africa is likely to be represented by either Nigeria or a composite side.

The details of this year's Asian Cricket Council Trophy to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates will be finalised sometime next week.

All Associate countries in the Asia and Pacific regions, including Fiji and Papua-New Guinea, will be invited for the event tentatively scheduled for November 15-24.

In an attempt to provide a level playing field, Argentina will field an 'A' side in this year's South American Championship in Buenos Aires.

Probable other starters are Chile, Peru and Brazil and a Miami based group of West Indian businessmen playing under the banner of Guyana.

Possibilities are Mexico, which has already contacted tournament organiser, Grant Dugmore, Panama, which has expressed interest, Belize and Venezuela.

Most of this activity is due to the ICC, which is implemented a tournament structure aimed at providing countries with competitive cricket.